


Vanilla and Geraniums

by fennecfoxyang (veqnx97)



Series: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Bang Chan consent king, Because we all know Chan is incredibly gentle y’all can’t tell me NOTHING, Bondmates AU, Chanlixers rise up, Don't ask me why but Australia and New Zealand both exist in this AU, Fluff, I promise if you can get through my lame-ass world building at the beginning, Jeongin is a sweetheart I love him, Jilix twins ayyyy, Later I promise, M/M, Magic AU, No smut—sorry y’all, Politics, Royalty AU, Sensuality, Sharing a Bed, Where is jisung’s handler, bath scene, bathing together, but you know my brand so once again we do get Chan Feeling Felix Up (tm), literally sleeping together, the chanlix interactions are literally the softest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:26:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28306746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veqnx97/pseuds/fennecfoxyang
Summary: "In every country in the known world, it’s undeniable that there will always be people with power, and there will always be people without power. In this sorrowful world with its hundreds of kingdoms, it’s a well-established fact among all people that the people with power and status are those with money and magic: naturally, the pampered youths of aristocratic lineage are the primary victors of this lottery, because life is rarely fair.That brings us to today, perhaps the most uncertain day of Felix’s life: standing there, getting pinned up in his bonding garb by people who only spoke in low whispers around him in a bustling yet lonely chamber, Prince Felix pinned a smile to his face, clasped his shaking hands out of sight and tried not to let bitterness creep into his face."In which Prince Felix is fated to Prince Chan.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix
Series: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073249
Comments: 3
Kudos: 91





	Vanilla and Geraniums

**Author's Note:**

> Well look what the cat dragged in...hey,, hey,..
> 
> yeah guys I'm finally back lol. I've been working on this since thanksgiving because I wanted to give you guys one last thing before this train-wreck of a year ends so... HAPPY HOLIDAYS (AND MERRY CHRISTMAS) :D
> 
> I'm planning to make this a series and I've pretty much drafted the entire thing but I just have to actually write,, it,.. *sweats*  
> I'm pretty busy with uni but if you want to see it come out faster, comments are always appreciated and very motivating! Seriously, I want to hear what you guys think! 
> 
> If you enjoy my work, you can support me here (no pressure!!):  
> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/veqnx97

In every country in the known world, it’s undeniable that there will always be people _with_ power, and there will always be people _without_ power. In this sorrowful world with its hundreds of kingdoms, it’s a well-established fact among all people that the people with power and status are those with money and magic: naturally, the pampered youths of aristocratic lineage are the primary victors of this lottery, because life is rarely fair. (Lee Felix learned this unjust truth at a young age.) Yes; in this world, the population is naturally subjected to the whims and desires of those lucky few who, by some trick of fate, developed a magic that transcends that capabilities of ordinary humans. When these traces of magic began to appear, those humans, who were apparently blessed by God above, were deified by those around them and naturally rose to a station above ordinary humans to become the rulers of kingdoms—whether democratically or with the ambition of a dictator, it doesn’t much matter—to establish a new world order.

To maintain such a lofty position, how does one go about that? For many, the solution was to establish a lineage, hopefully producing children that also bore the gift of magic that would solidify the standing of a family. It’s always a gamble, but those born with the gift of magic can rocket from obscurity to prominence. However, simply being aristocratic and having magic isn’t enough to guarantee that any resulting children will manifest magic; truthfully, being aristocratic only boosts the _probability_ that offspring will manifest magic due to the concerted efforts between the noble families to keep magic genes enclosed in the upper echelons of society. While unlikely, even a peasant could develop a strong power and shatter the status quo from the bottom up if Fate willed it. With that in consideration, even for families where magic often manifested there was no guarantee that it’d be a strong skill, or even useful. Plenty of laughable skills have cropped up among the jewel-studded classes in the past centuries that the mutations have existed, because even when the game is rigged by the players, the house undeniably always holds the upper hand. In this gamble with the universe, only by pure coincidence did Felix happen to be holding a royal flush.

Regardless, while some powers are stronger and some are weaker, they all can be enhanced when the user becomes emotionally or physically bonded to someone with a similar or complementary magic to their own unique skill; if you were to bond with such a person your energies would build off of and amplify each other’s, and in exchange for the power your lives would be irrevocably tied together in the web of political intrigue that permeated the interactions between kingdoms. Between two powerful and well-bonded people, clairvoyance that reveals uninspiring, split-second insight a couple hazy days in advance could develop to elucidate entire events some decades into the future, or perhaps give foresight to alter the course of time only seconds ahead, thereby snubbing the marionette strings of destiny. Naturally, for those with a magic skill—or the rulers of warring nations grasping at any point of influence available—it was desirable to find and leverage a match with a magic user and have the pair become bonded as quickly as possible. Marriage laws vary between countries, but most agree that the earliest legal marriageable age is when the youngest reaches 20 years old to allow sufficient time for individual skill to develop, a standard so pervasive the practice has bled over to be commonplace even among the peasantry.

Lee Felix learned this all as the nature of this world was impressed on him by his parents and the court around him since the day his magic manifested. Since then his existence has been overcome with training, bleak lessons in etiquette and warfare, locked up in the court until he might be of use to his kingdom; at last, his usefulness came as a tool for an alliance with the neighboring kingdom, to be married off to the crown prince whose magic mirrored his own. So, when he heard the official news of his engagement to Prince Bang of Australia from his father, the King, all he could do was give a filial smile, eyes closed to conceal the lack of feeling behind them. “Really? I’m so pleased. It’ll be a powerful union.”

Internally, every part of Felix recoiled at the thought. Truthfully, he was pleased that the union between New Zealand and Australia would solidify their tenuous alliance of sundry decades and give the citizens a cause to celebrate after enduring another war-stained era with no true security. _But there’s the catch_ , Felix thought with a long-suffering frown, _that for all to enjoy such peace I’m to be deported to the mainland, exiled from all I know and love_. In politics and love both, the larger always has the capacity to misuse the smaller. And unlike the laws of his magical alchemy, no matter how he turned it over in his mind Felix couldn’t qualify this as equivalent exchange.

Still, with the swirling pool of uncertainties rushing through his mind, Felix was stubbornly certain of one thing: he would not become a pawn for his bondmate’s ambitions and whims, whatever they may be. Despite tentative allyship in the past there was no way to know the true intentions of Prince Bang and his family and the firm grasp of greed could compromise even the strongest magic users. All he could do was stand firm and endure whatever would come for the sake of his people, taking any compromises in stride as long as they will protect his people. Since that fateful day the carbon in the dirt under his feet transformed into glittering diamond Felix had no say or choice in the matter; with him and Prince Bang both holding extremely rare and powerful skills, the universe had inextricably tied them together. All Felix could choose was to protect what he loved most, no matter how high the cost may grow.

That brings us to today, perhaps the most uncertain day of Felix’s life: standing there, getting pinned up in his bonding garb by people who only spoke in low whispers around him in a bustling yet lonely chamber, Prince Felix pinned a smile to his face, clasped his shaking hands out of sight and tried not to let bitterness creep into his face. Since the first public announcement of his engagement, time had passed without him even knowing and he somehow found himself standing in the Australian palace being dressed for his bonding ceremony like a pheasant for a banquet. All eyes in the dressing room seemed magnetically drawn to him, undoubtedly awestricken at the rumors of his abilities, which exceeded the skill of any other young nobles of the era. Felix tightened his jaw and resisted staring back, distracting himself by focusing on standing as still as possible as the needle threaded its way through his pants.

What made Felix and Prince Bang perhaps the most powerful bond-match in the modern day was their shared ability alchemy, which ostensibly defies the constraints of the natural world and makes anything that can be imagined achievable. The rumors spread like wildfire among the populace when Felix’s skill was revealed at his coming-of-age ceremony; desert dust is alchemized into a fine loaf of bread, a drop of mercury turns to gold as it hits the ground, water swirls in a crystalline glass and purples into fragrant wine. Of course, in reality there is no magic that can defy the logic of the natural world, but without knowing the mechanism, it would certainly seem to many that the birth of this child was a manifestation of God’s divine power. (Such unlimited strength could never be the case, as all magic users know. Even the most powerful magic had its limits— _especially_ the most powerful magic—and Felix knew those limits well and walked them hard as he learned to bear his curse.) Since the strength of alchemy came from the ability of the users to manipulate matter on the atomic level, ripping and molding things together and apart to form the desired result, as the user overuses that ability their life force is inflicted with a similar deconstruction. As he trained and learned the boundaries of his power Felix found himself at the precipice far too often for anyone’s comfort. At his bondmate’s hands, would he finally plummet over that cliff? Fighting a scoff, he looked away from where his pants were getting last-minute alterations to search for Jisung’s eyes.

Oh, where would he be without Jisung. While Felix always struggled to accept the existence of the bondmate the universe imposed on him, his twin had always been there to temper his cynicism as he tried to remind him of the soft romance of being fated by the universe to be an ideal pair; while either a sweet lie or a profound truth, regardless the thought always eased Felix’s trepidation. Even now Jisung stood before him, pulling faces just to evince the minutest smile from Felix’s stony visage. Felix took in a breath and steeled himself: _I’ll try to smile, if only for you._ “Ji, if you keep pulling your face like that it’s going to get stuck.”

“Blegh,” Jisung rolled his eyes, “I wish it would.” Leaning against the adjacent vanity in a motion of fabricated ease, he grabbed a bunch of grapes and started to pluck them from the stem. “Hey, is it hot in here or is it just me?” He fed Felix a grape, who chewed the fruit thoughtfully.

Despite having just been scrubbed within an inch of his life before the fitting started, Felix already felt the beads of sweat pricking at his skin. “No, I definitely feel it too.” Or maybe it was just nerves. Well, better safe than sorry. “Maybe we should ask someone to crack open a window. I feel like I’m halfway to fainting.”

Jisung snorted and cracked his knuckles. “You look it, too. I’m going to flag someone down about those windows, sit tight,” he reassured and went to find a staff who didn’t look too busy to harass about the windows, muttering something about _this is 100% abuse, when I see the prince I’ll.._.

Felix sighed, dabbing at the dampness on his forehead with the back of his hand. _Damn, who decided on a summer wedding?_ If he didn’t faint from the nerves maybe the Australian heat would get him first—not that it was much worse than New Zealand, but the four pressed layers of garments he was wearing for the ceremony weren’t doing him any favours. One of the staff—Jeongin, he had stuttered his name was when he approached Felix the first time—came unprompted with a water-glass beaded with condensation, which Felix accepted gratefully.

“I appreciate your kindness,” he thanked, handing back the swiftly drained glass, “I must really look that bad, huh?”

Jeongin replied after clearing his throat and averting his eyes. “Just a bit peaky at the moment. His highness is still radiant as ever.”

“There’s no need to call me that,” Felix asserted with a dry smile, “just Felix is fine. And there’s no need for sugar-coating, I know I look paler than a sinner in church.” Felix fanned himself with his free hand. “Please tell whoever needs to be told that this ceremony better start soon or Prince Bang might have to find another bondmate, perhaps one that has a higher tolerance for being cooked.”

The young servant stifled a laugh and shook his head softly. “I’ll request the chief of staff to hasten the timetable, then,” he replied, bowing apologetically and hurrying to the other side of the room. A little fondness welled up in Felix’s heart at the genuine sweetness of the manservant; although he couldn’t have been much younger than him his air of sincerity bespoke a greenness that was impossible to overlook. If his bondmate holds half the kindness he can see in his servants he might be in luck after all.

Once more the tedious hours filter by; even after getting examined and stuck with pins and prodded at Felix discovered the waiting itself was harder than any fitting. As the boredom reached a boiling point he attempted to entertain Jisung and himself in various minor ways, chiefly by finding little trinkets and objects to secretly alchemize—“Hey Felix, you think you could alchemize this rhododendron into a salad? I’m hungry as fuck, dude.”—but he sheepishly stopped when a disappointed Jeongin noticed and gave them a restrained yet stern tongue-lashing.

Now, standing at the bottom of the staircase that led to the ballroom (and the rest of his life, a small voice reminded him), waiting in that limbo was almost preferable to ascending the stairs and having to face Prince Bang. God, he didn’t even know what the crown prince looked like yet. From how Jeongin had briefly described Prince Bang for him the prince was a looker, with blond hair curled from constant Australian humidity and dimples that emerged when he smiled, broad shoulders and a short stature but a grand presence. Felix nervously wet his lips, guarding himself against any reaction as he ascended the staircase into the ballroom.

First foot crossing the threshold, the lavish ballroom came into view. Overhead, chandeliers with a thousand twinkling crystals shed the entire room in golden light, reflecting on the polished marble floor. A long velvet carpet indicated the path to a raised pavilion, where the crowd would watch him exchange bonding promises with Prince Bang. He could feel the stares on him worse than ever, lingering at the edge of his vision as he tried to focus his attention to the end of the velvet carpet. _Breathe, breathe. It’s nothing_. The carpet ended and his footsteps echoed off the marble steps as he ascended. If anyone was distracted before, their eyes were certainly on him now. _Oh, we’re in whispering distance now_ —this is all too fast.

Felix took his place beside the prince and stared past the crowd, his heart running laps in his chest, until a low voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Don’t worry about them, just keep your eyes on me,” the prince said in a low voice, discreetly as to not be heard. Felix thought he might have imagined it, if it wasn’t for a warm hand quietly slipping in his own.

Felix’s heart stuttered in his chest. “Okay,” he whispered in reply, squeezing his hands where they were joined with the prince’s.

The vows were short and simple, requiring only the weight of a single promise: _to care for and defend the other at the price of his own life_. Felix shivered at the heaviness of that vow, hearing it pass the Prince Bang’s lips and then his own. His own mind was still ringing with the timbre of that sentiment even as the hall broke into cheers and assorted noises of celebration.

Hand-in-hand, they have the first dance before thousands of eyes, and then dance into the night. Tradition dictates that the bonded pair should slip away discretely while the partygoers continue celebrating, as to not interrupt the festivities: while not explicitly stated, Felix isn’t naïve enough to not get the implications. They leave before he can bid Jisung goodbye, but he expected it. His hands grow sweaty in Prince Bang’s grasp as he’s pulled through the crowded ballroom to who-knows where, but thankfully Prince Bang is polite enough to ignore it. _There’s no need to consummate this union; even though we’re a pair now bonding isn’t the same as marriage, not really—although it’s very common—to do that sort of thing—it’s not strictly on the itinerary. Right?_ Stomach turning in anticipation, Felix agonizes over where the night will lead. Prince Bang’s wink and mysterious silence about where they’re heading does nothing to ease his anxiety, and rather amplifies it ten-fold, yet in the sea of shouts and whoops and the fragrance of expensive wine Felix can’t get himself together enough to ask where they’re going.

His unasked questions are swiftly answered as they enter a bathing chamber already filled with transparent steam, the inner layers of his clothes instantly clinging to his skin. Carved into the floor there’s a giant pool of water, colored with the foam of different soaps: the scents of vanilla, geranium and lemon wafted to his nose, surprising and dizzying.

Closing the door shut, the prince finally speaks up. “Wow, it’s good to be out of there finally. Must’ve been over a thousand people in there, huh. I thought we could both benefit from a relaxing bath, especially since it’s been so hot.”

Relaxing? How exactly does he define relaxing? Is stripping down to nothing and getting in a bath with a person you just met, who you just made a life-altering and irrevocable vow with supposed to be relaxing in any way, shape, or form? His silence makes Prince Bang’s eyebrows furrow in concern, and—right, yes. Talking. He can’t form a single word, a single dry swallow creeping down his throat, so he settles with a nod.

That seems to relieve Prince Bang a bit, and he tries to ease the tension with a dimpled smile. “Right? Sounds good.” How is he so calm about this? Like it’s nothing, the prince has already taken off his shoes and is working at the buttons of his outer layer. Felix stares, amazed at how casual the prince is about this as he continues divesting himself of your clothing. Oh no, their eyes are meeting again. “Hey,” the prince says gently, “you need some help?”

Oops. He was staring for too long. “No no no, I’m good, I got it, I can undress myself,” Felix rushes, quickly turning around to avoid Prince Bang’s eyes as he starts undoing the buttons of his top. A chuckle rings behind him—at least the prince is good-natured about this. Before he can even start on his pants, Felix hears the sound of the prince stepping into the bathwater and lets out a shaky breath. He can do this. _It’s just a bath, it’s just a bath, it’s just a_ —damn it, he’s down to his last shred of dignity. It probably wouldn’t have taken so long if he didn’t pointedly fold each article of clothing after he got it off his body, but there’s no longer any delaying the inevitable. Now he’s shaking even harder.

Felix takes a deep breath and faces the basin, thankful that even now the prince is turned away. Prince Bang doesn’t turn to face Felix until he’s settled in the bath, rinsing the last suds of conditioner from his hair.

“Come here,” the prince gently ushers Felix closer with an outstretched hand. Before he can register it, there are hands softly running over Felix’s shoulders, arms, and chest, tenderly rubbing soap into his naked skin. Taken by surprise as he is, he doesn’t know what to do except sit there and let the prince do it, too enamored with the feeling of slightly calloused hands sliding over his skin to scope out the dips and smooth planes of his body. Peeking at his bondmate’s face, his eyes were so...attentive, to be as accurate as possible. There was no sign that the elder prince would eat him alive as soon as they were alone like Jisung had warned him; only a careful, thorough survey of his skin, rinsing away the salty sweat that accumulated on his skin during the bonding ceremony and their uncountable number of dances, hands lingering on the spattering of freckles over his shoulder and chest as he massages away the tension that Felix held in without realizing. Even though it’s strange to be appraised in this way it’s surprisingly considerate and disorienting to be washed in this way by the Australian crown prince. Didn’t he have servants to do this for him, instead of dirtying his own hands? _Why does he defer, bath me like he’s a servant instead of a prince?_

Felix reddens as the prince washes his lower half for him, somehow disappointed yet infinitely grateful that his attention there had been only perfunctory, lingering only as long as it took to ensure cleanliness. The feeling of steady hands at his hips and thighs is unfamiliar and in spite of himself he trembles at the attention. It never felt this way even before he had relieved his servants of this duty and insisted on bathing himself. It felt intimate. It felt chaste. It felt like a contradiction, that they were sitting naked in this bath together, yet the prince was just sitting here, washing him so gently.

Trying to escape the prince’s gaze, Felix clears his throat and goes for a show of goodwill. “My turn to help you, Prince Bang” he offers, the timbre of his voice effectively concealing the tremors. The prince’s eyes snap up in surprise, brown eyes framed by thick, dark lashes.

“There’s no need for any formalities. We’re bondmates, remember? Please, just call me Chan.” He cups more water in his hands, carefully rinsing away the suds Felix hadn’t noticed were still on his head.

Felix feels his cheeks color despite his efforts at composure. “Chan, then,” Felix restarts a bit abruptly, hoping the red in his cheeks can be attributed to the steam in the room, “let me help you too.”

Chan smiles sweetly. “Only if you want. The soaps are right here,” he says, pointing out the different oils and cleansers available.

“Right, thank you,” Felix replies, quickly distracting himself by lathering his hands up with the closest soap. There it was—the scent of geraniums blossomed up at his fingertips. Pressing his hands to Chan’s chest, Felix willed himself to look anywhere except the prince’s piercing eyes. In the end, the Felix’s nerves made his help more cursory than expected, hands quaking to the point where Chan took hold of them and assured Felix that he could finish washing himself.

“Hey, you don’t need to be nervous, it’s just me. I’m going to protect you, remember? Nothing bad’s gonna happened to you while I’m here.”

“Right.” Felix focuses on pacing his breathing while he waits for Chan to finish bathing, the cadence of fours slowly bringing his heart rate down to a jog. By the time he’s calmed down Chan is rinsing the last remnants of soap from his body and he’s pulling Felix up out the bathwater, wrapping a towel around the younger’s freckled shoulders. He’s not finally grounded until suddenly they’re at a heavy mahogany door, and Felix realizes suddenly that it must be the prince’s—Chan’s room.

Chan clears his throat. “Uh…yeah. We’re here. I’m sorry I didn’t ask about your preference beforehand, I sorta assumed that you’d be okay sleeping in my room with me. If it’s a problem I can get another room prepared and sleep there instead, no worries.”

“This is completely fine, you don’t have to make sudden arrangements on my account.”

“But I want you to be comfortable.” Chan frowned. “If you’re not comfortable with this it really is okay, I’ll go. I shouldn’t have assumed anyways.”

Looking him dead in the eyes, Felix responded, “I know. And I’m telling you that it’s okay. I’m fine with this.” To prove his point, he went straight to the bed and flopped himself down, peeking his eyes from where he buried his head in his arms. “Come over here.”

It was a relief when Chan, finally convinced, came and sat himself at the end of the bed. After the long day he had, Felix didn’t know if he could tolerate being alone and without a single friend in this new castle. Even if they hardly knew each other, surely being with his bondmate must be better than being alone, left with the weight of his thoughts and already estranged from the one person he had.

In the pin-drop silence of the room, Felix could feel Chan’s cryptic gaze. He couldn’t confront him about it…how long were they going to stay like this?

“So, I,”— _apparently not long_ , Felix thought—“I wanted to say that I’m sorry. I know this must be a lot for you.”

_What?_ Don’t be ridiculous, Felix almost found himself saying before he stopped himself, almost flushing at how brazen he nearly got. “Please don’t apologize. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“That might be true, but if it weren’t for me you’d probably still get to stay with your family and loved ones, instead of having to leave for” he gestured vaguely, a bit lost, “whatever this is.”

“Please don’t feel too bad,” Felix tried to reassure him, “if it weren’t you, they’d just marry me off to somebody else. It’s impossible to escape fate.”

The elder looked pensively down at the floor. “Yes, I suppose that’s true…” he said to himself, twiddling his fingers deep in thought. “God, I’m supposed to be comforting you, yet here you are comforting me. Why don’t we change the subject? What’s your favorite animal?” Felix had literally no idea how to respond to that. “I’m sorry, that was a pretty strange thing to ask. Why don’t we go ahead to sleep, I know it’s been such a long day…you must be pretty tired.”

Felix’s brown knit together in confusion. “Aren’t we going to—you know?” When Chan doesn’t respond he gestures vaguely, as if it will make his meaning any clearer.

“You know…what?” his partner asks, head tilted to the side like a puppy’s. _Oh my god, why is he so cute and also making this thirty times harder than it needs to be._

Clearing his throat, Felix tries to clarify. “Don’t make me say it…are we going to have sex or not?” All the blood in Felix’s body suddenly decided to take up residency in his ears, flushing all the way up his neck at the embarrassing question.

“Did you want to?” Chan asked, cocking an eyebrow up.

Blushing, Felix stuttered a hurried reply. “No—NO! I just didn’t expect—I was told it’d be something I’d have to do tonight. So I’ve been caught off guard by this entire night. I don’t know what you want from me.”

“Well, I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to do. If you want to, I’ll do my best to fulfill your wishes and make sure you have a good time. If you don’t want to, I’ll respect that as well.” He looked somehow distressed for reasons Felix couldn’t understand. “We never have to have sex if you don’t want to. Sex is opt-in, not opt out. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.”

At that unexpected declaration, a mixture of emotions flurries in Felix’s mind; most dominantly, he’s comforted and relieved by this revelation. “Thank you, I’m…I don’t really have any experience with those sorts of things. I think for now, I really do want to go to bed.”

“Of course,” Chan says with a sympathetic smile. “You must have had a long day, huh.”

Felix sighs. “Tell me about it,” he says, blowing stray hair from his face as he pulls back the duvet for his bondmate and himself. “People poking and prodding at me like I’m a piece of meat, scrutinizing the way I walk and stand and talk like I’m not even a person, or even a prince.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, I really thought our staff was better than that” Chan grimaced, and Felix almost regretted bringing it up.

A beat of consideration passed and younger continued. “Jeongin was nice though. He kept on checking on me and kept bringing me water. He must’ve brought me like twelve glasses of water before the ceremony.”

That seemed to instantly improve Chan’s mood. “I’m glad to hear it—he’s such a sweet boy. I’m glad that he looked after you like I asked.”

“You asked him to check up on me?”

Chan flushed, awkwardly justifying himself. “Well, y’know, I couldn’t check up on you myself when you came to the castle because we were both getting ready for the ceremony, so I, uh, asked him to look after you in my stead. Wanted to make sure you’d be alright until I could check for myself.”

“Oh,” Felix replied softly. “That was very kind of you.” The warm edges of fondness filter into his heart.

Repressing a tiny scream, Chan hid his smiling face in his hands. “No, it’s the least I could do for you. If you can leave your nation to come see me I can at least make sure you survive the heat.”

“Oh yeah, he was determined to make sure I didn’t get heatstroke. Overhydration would’ve gotten me first for sure,” Felix chuckled at his own joke, which swiftly phased into a yawn. Perhaps he had underestimated his own exhaustion.

“Hmm, sounds like we should go to sleep.” Chan looked fondly at him from where his head was laid on his pillow and Felix’s heart most definitely skipped a beat.

“Yup, sounds good to me,” he replied, stretching out his torso and arms before another yawn slipped out. “If you don’t mind, would you hold me? I don’t really sleep super well just by myself, sorry.”

“Of course, leave it to me.” Felix could hear the smile in his bondmate’s voice as a warm arm and the fragrances of vanilla and geraniums wrapped protectively around his torso. Being held in his bondmate’s arms like this, despite having never met before today he felt warmer and safer than he ever had before in his life. It felt like, somehow, he was no longer a prince that was groomed his entire life to be bartered away in service to his country, but he was just a young man, being held in the arms of someone who loves him, with no other care in the world. Falling into the arms of sleep, head pressed close enough to hear Chan’s constant heartbeat, Felix finally decides that his bondmate is a good person and that these circumstances might not be as terrible as he thought.


End file.
